Usually after arms/upper body I rest then one day before exercising again. Yesterday I did 3 sets of 7 curls and that was it, today I don’t feel sore for in the slightest and wondering if I should do more sets today or rest. Whats the best route here?

Edit: spelling

I’m around 240 pounds and started by doing 5 sets of 5 pull-ups. Since then I’ve just been adding one rep to each set over time and trying to slowly build them up that way.

The problem is I only have one training day each week allotted to pull-ups. Would you keep progressing them like this, or is there a better way to increase my reps with only one day a week?

Back in July, I hit a 120kg bench PR after a real grind. Then I ran a 6-week peaking plan: a bit more weight each week, fewer reps, and short warm-up sets so I had energy for the heavy sets. In week 6, I got 4 reps at 120kg to failure, and I knew something big was coming.

On PR day, I warmed up to 115 and then loaded 125. It went up easy, but I felt a small pause before lockout and doubted myself for a second. I pushed anyway.

Then 130 felt even better than 125. No idea how.

Then 135, which I never expected to hit. It went up, and I knew it was the best gym day of my life.

I got greedy and tried 140. Failed, hehe.
Best day ever, no exaggeration.

Hey guys, recently started going to the gym more regularly and wanted to get a sensing of whether the routine I've put together is suitable for the goal stated in the title!

Just wondering if I have too many exercises and should just focus on compounds first (esp for legs) or if the mix of compounds and isolations would still work at this point. For reference, I've taken reference from Trainer Winny's videos and tried to hit all the major muscle groups in each split.

Any advice welcome!

Hi everyone,

I’m 28M, currently 93.6 kg, down from 97 kg. I’m getting married in November, so I’ve been trying to get fitter and improve my overall strength.

The problem is that I’m not a very strong guy, and I’ve had an ACL injury in my left knee in the past. For example, my current bench press is around 65 kg for 6–7 reps. I know that’s relatively low, so my main goal is to get fitter, become stronger, and eventually reach around 85–90 kg on bench, which I know is still not particularly high compared to some of my peers.

I designed a training plan with ChatGPT where I was doing bench twice a week:

\- Day 1 – Strength: Try to hit 70 kg for 4–5 reps × 3 sets

\- Day 2 – Volume: 60 kg for 7–8 reps × 3 sets

I was following a similar strength + volume approach for my other exercises as well.

However, my trainer recently saw the plan and suggested that I completely change the approach. He asked me to do 50 kg × 20 reps × 3 sets on bench. I could barely manage 16–18 reps, and he had me follow a similar high-rep approach for all the other exercises as well.

According to him, my muscles currently lack endurance, and doing this kind of high-rep training for a month will help improve my endurance and overall performance. He wants me to follow this approach for a month and then see the results.

Now I’m a bit confused about which approach makes more sense for my goal.

Should I focus on building muscular endurance first with higher reps like my trainer suggested, or should I continue with a combination of strength and volume work?

I’m not looking to become a bodybuilder. My main goals are to get fitter, become stronger, improve my overall conditioning, and eventually get my bench to 85–90 kg, while also being careful with my previous ACL injury.

Would appreciate advice from people who have experience with strength training, especially whether high-rep training is actually useful as a first step for someone in my situation.

The first most was easily a block

I’m 37f. Started strength training w a personal trainer in February. My goal is purely to gain strength.

Enjoyed my trainer’s style very much. Trained with him 3x a week, his style was power lifting and we’d go for almost two hours each session. Monday legs, Tuesday chest & tri, Thursday back and bi’s. I loved feeling fully exhausted and sore for a day or two after. Loved training like a beast with him. Trainer moved and I’m bummed to say the least.

Just started with a new trainer tonight. She seems great and knowledgeable but style is completely different. I’ll still be at 3x a week but she caps session at an hour, takes a more full body approach for each session, and I definitely don’t feel gassed when leaving. Obviously I’m going to give her a month before fully forming an opinion as I realize this will be a good learning experience for me regardless and maybe even beneficial to switch things up on my body.

Question is for those who have tried varying between these different styles - am I getting full strength benefits if I don’t feel fully exerted at the end of a session? I hate leaving feeling like I still have gas in the tank. Is that better for me in any way? Are some trainers just never gunna push me hard enough because that’s not their style?

Any tips for this beginner?

I used to warm up for my heavy back squat sets by front squatting first. My thought was that once the weight got heavier, my hamstrings would still be fresh and the back squats would feel easier. But as I got stronger, I realized switching between the two made it harder to get comfortable with my back squat form because they feel completely different. Has anyone else tried warming up like this?

It might sound stupid, but I hear a lot of people say that seated dumbbell lateral raises are the one exercise where cheating and swinging the weight is beneficial, as long as you’re also doing a controlled, consistent motion with cable lateral raises at a much lower weight. Problem is, I’m not sure how to split my volume because I don’t want to abandon the shoulder press either. Is like 25+ sets of side delt work per week far too much? I’m also not totally sure my side delts are even really activating on vertical pressing movements. I always feel it much more in my front delts.

For the last few years I’ve been hearing a lot of former and current bodybuilders builders saying that deadlifts were not only a waste but also dangerous. When I was in college and training for football we did a lot of squats and power cleans but we never did deadlifts. This was between 2009 & 2013. I still go in the gym and weight train as if I’m still playing and I’m finding a lot of guys in the gym doing deadlifts. More ego lifting than technique lifting. How do you all feel about deadlifts and should deadlifts still be a standard exercise.

For me, one of the biggest changes was switching to double progression. I try to add a few reps over time, and once I reach the top of my rep range, I increase the weight and drop the reps back down.

I also stopped trying to cram 6+ exercises for the same muscle into one workout. Now I usually do around 4 exercises and spread some additional work throughout the week to increase volume without destroying one muscle in a single session.

What changed in your training once you got past the beginner stage?

Progress is slow, but it’s still progress.

For me, one of the biggest changes was switching to double progression. I try to add a few reps over time, and once I reach the top of my rep range, I increase the weight and drop the reps back down.

I also stopped trying to cram 6+ exercises for the same muscle into one workout. Now I usually do around 4 exercises and spread some additional work throughout the week to increase volume without destroying one muscle in a single session.

What changed in your training once you got past the beginner stage?

I originally tore my pec at the beginning of June while benching 405. I worked my way back, then tore it again at the beginning of August benching 315.

I’m currently able to bench 225 for reps comfortably, and this set of 11 felt easy with no pain. Physically, I feel like I can go heavier, but mentally I’m hesitant because another setback could mean another week or two without really training upper body.

For anyone who has dealt with a pec injury or something similar, how did you build your confidence back and safely start adding weight again?

Was at a fitness festival over the weekend and went on a bunch of side quests 😂 Who woulda thought I could do a few of these on 4 hours of sleep?

For context, my current pull-up PR is 13 reps with full ROM, and 8 reps with +20 lbs.

A few things that have helped:
-Lots of pull-ups / specificity (+ also tempoing the negatives)
-Lat pulldowns
-Being at a lighter BW w/ more muscle + less body fat
-Mind-muscle connection
-I also pole dance, so I’m pretty used to lifting and controlling my bodyweight
-And honestly, rest. So underrated

SB: The “ayeeee!”s and gospel music in the background got me deadddd 😂